Silicon Beach Fest: Tech Meets Content

For anyone who still harbors doubt that the Westside is still the best side of Los Angeles, the emergence of Silicon Beach helps strengthen the case. Last week’s Silicon Beach Fest, only in its second year, saw 3,000 in attendance, a 50 percent increase from last year's event. While not the epicenter of startup culture, the Santa Monica and Venice scene has attracted the attention of content creators who are eager to meet kids who know how to code, but don't want to drive six hours to Palo Alto.

The fest focused primarily on the businesses that make L.A. great -- entertainment, games, and marketing. While more than 100 startups made an appearance, it lacked star power from either the tech or creative community.

Yet the L.A. tech scene is still in its infancy and it benefits from its proximity to Hollywood. Many of the panels and discussions last week centered around topics impacting the entertainment business including: Content Marketing: Distribution and Monetization; The Business of Gaming; Fashion Content; Transmedia; and Social TV and Second Screen.

Held at the Real Office Centers near Santa Monica’s 3rd Street Promenade, both the fest and the startup companies benefit from the proximity to the beach and to a greater creative community. Ron McElroy, CEO of ROC, is a real estate mogul whose recent efforts to bring the startup community to L.A. haven’t gone unnoticed by the creative community.

Warner, NBC and Fox all approached ROC to shoot startup themed material at the offices which are pretty much how you would imagine startup offices to look -- colorful, communal and full of young people. Amazon wound up the winner and was able to shoot its latest series “Betas” on the property.

“Hollywood helps distinguish ROC,” said McElroy in an interview with L.A. Biz regarding what attracts startups to L.A. “It’s stimulating growth.” McElroy has also established relationships with local startup talent coming out of the local universities, including USC, UCLA, and Pepperdine. The location offers boot camps and hosts hackathons and is getting aggressive in bringing talent and venture capital to the locale.

“There are more incubators here than in all of SoCal,” McElroy noted about Santa Monica. “It’s one of the most vibrant and dynamic markets.”

The emphasis on content creation and distribution at the event reminded attendees how much startup culture may intertwine and even take over for Hollywood in some areas.

“YouTube has 1 billion unique viewers, that’s a huge pie,” Yury Polnar, who works for YouTube’s audience development, said on a panel focusing on growing audiences.

Like the advent of television, which brought familiar faces into the homes of viewers, what startups in Silicon Beach are allowing consumers to do is get even closer to their favorite personalities. It’s no wonder that celebrities such as Robert DeNiro are showing up at ROC showing interest in the next generation of delivering content.

“It’s a much deeper relationship compared to mainstream media,” said Tim Glenn, VP of Partnerships at Ally Digital/SMOSH, on the panel. “As long as it’s authentic and accessible.”